What to Pack: Airplane Activities for Toddlers

What to Pack: 15 Airplane Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

The thought of taking toddlers and pre-schoolers on long flights can be daunting. But entertaining toddlers on a plane doesn’t have to be!

you probably think i am crazy.

I’m SERIOUS!

Yes it will be tough, NO you probably will not get much reading done, and don’t even think of trying to enjoy a movie, but you WILL survive.

And so will the 200 other people on the plane!

I have listed 15 of my favourite airplane activities for toddlers and preschoolers that we pack for my kids (who were two and four and are now almost three and five). These items are also great for car trips, train trips, bus trips and just about any other time you need to keep kids sitting (relatively) still and quiet!

Yes we pack the iPods for some quiet time on the flight!

Our Favourite Airplane Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers.

1. My kids are loving the .io games from Poki on our laptop right now! With more and more airlines and airports (as well as busses and other modes of transport) having wi-fi, these are a great new addition to our travel arsenal. You can find other categories of games on their website here.

Be Careful, these can be messy, but if you keep the beads in a ziplock or ask a flight attendant for an extra cup and let your toddler string them on one at a time, they will be thrilled with the bracelet that they have made when it is done!

There are so many ways to entertain toddlers on a plane, it just takes some thinking. I have only been able to find these on Amazon, but they are great for the creative kid and much less messy than play dough. They can create 3D characters or shapes or letters! (These also came in our “AllPakt” backpack. you can read about all of the other contents here)

I have a puzzle fanatic at my house, so I always hit up the dollar store and grab a few new puzzles for our flights with toddlers and preschoolers. But check to make sure that the are not too big and will fit on the tray table before your flight! (Yup i have made that mistake too!)

My Preschooler is just learning letters and loves using every single page of a post it note to practice his letters. They are also fun to stick all over everything for toddlers and are easy to clean up

that fit small heads. We made this mistake on our last trip and bought what looked like kids headphones. They ended up being way to big. Now we look for headphones designed specifically for toddlers. The ones made for LeapFrog LeapPads have been perfect!

11. A package of Band-Aids. Lets face it, kids LOVE them! And will love playing doctor and fixing your owies!

13. Kids love wrapping up and giving gifts, bring some tissue paper and let them wrap up some small items and check out the thrill on your face when you open them up!

14. Don’t forget their special blanket or stuffy to keep them feeling safe. It also adds an extra person to take care of. My 4 year old Mattias loves role playing and being ”Bunny’s Daddy”

Tava Adventures – Seattle Passport

15. We love the Travel Passports from Tava Adventures. The Passport comes with 10 4×6 travel cards hi lighting your chosen destination in a kid-friendly way! We have the London and the Seattle ones and hope to collect more as we travel to new places!

Is your bag full yet?

Don’t forget the snacks when you pack for your kids activities on an airplane. You can read our list of snacks to pack for your next trip here. And if collecting all of these things seems like entirely too much work, consider an All Pakt, (click to read our review and why we still use it today!)

Sidenote: Once you have packed up all of these items, check out Scary mommy for her hilarious take on what your flight will look like here!

Did I forget something you love to take on a flight with your children? let me know in the comments!

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Lindsay is the Editor and Head Writer of Carpe Diem OUR Way. She wears many hats including mom, wife, freelancer, GM for a manufacturing company and soccer player. Lindsay is spontaneous, loves travel, photography and very recently discovered she loves to write.

My daughter is 11 now and has been traveling since she was 3 months old, I remember the days when I had to entertain her. Those stixs were one of the things she loved. Colored pen and paper also kept her busy for a bit. As long as you take one you out a a time and then whip out technology at the end, the flights was always peaceful for all. Great tips here!

Baby #1 is on the way and people keep telling me that we won’t be traveling the way we do now. And they are right, it will have to be adjusted, but I can tell you, I do NOT want to STOP traveling just because we have children (in fact, I want them to see the world, too!) I’ve been reading lots about traveling and flying w/ kiddos.
For the younger ones, I hear having things tethered down is essential so that pieces, cups, binkies, etc don’t fall into those hard to reach places on planes.

Not one but TWO little bundles of high energy trouble and joy to cater for here! I have 2 nephews, one is 5 and the other 8. Going on holiday with my sister I quickly learnt to empathise with the poor mother with the crying baby. But OMG god BLESS technology. The ipad has been a god send!

It is so nice when parents actually consider bringing”anythin”g for their children to do so this list is a godsend. I get so mad when kids are just bored and acting up and the parents do nothing about it or get mad at them in return. Too bad they all can’t be like you.

That list is brilliant and the triangular crayons are pure genius! I didn’t even know those existed but will definitely be getting some now! Also like the pipe cleaner and bead idea – ideal for my daughter. Thanks for the great post.

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Hi and welcome to Carpe Diem OUR Way! I'm Lindsay and I am addicted to being a foreigner! Hopefully my posts on travel and my love for adventure as well as family travel tips will help make your next trip a great one!